Joaquin Phoenix
Joaquin Rafael Phoenix is an American actor. Widely described as one of the preeminent actors of his generation and known for his roles as dark, unconventional and eccentric characters in independent film, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Grammy Award, a Volpi Cup and two Golden Globe Awards.
Phoenix began his career by appearing in television series in the early 1980s with his brother River. His first major film roles were in SpaceCamp and Parenthood. During this period, he was credited as Leaf Phoenix, a name he gave himself. He took back his birth name in the early 1990s and received critical acclaim for his supporting roles in the comedy-drama To Die For and the period film Quills. Phoenix received further critical acclaim and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Commodus in the historical drama Gladiator. He had success with the horror films Signs and The Village, the historical drama Hotel Rwanda, and won a Grammy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of musician Johnny Cash in the biopic Walk the Line.
Following a brief sabbatical, Phoenix starred in the psychological drama The Master, winning the Volpi Cup for Best Actor and earning his third Academy Award nomination. He gained praise for his roles in the romantic drama Her and the crime satire Inherent Vice, and won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for the psychological thriller You Were Never Really Here. For his performance as the titular character of Joker, Phoenix won the Academy Award for Best Actor. He reprised his role in the 2024 sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux. He has since starred in the independent films C'mon C'mon, Beau Is Afraid and Eddington, and portrayed the title role in the historical drama Napoleon.
Outside acting, Phoenix is an animal rights activist. A vegan, he regularly supports charitable causes and has produced several documentaries on global meat consumption and its impact on the environment.
Early life
Phoenix was born at the Hospital Metropolitano San Francisco in the Río Piedras district of San Juan, Puerto Rico, to John Lee Bottom, the founder of a landscape gardening company, and Arlyn "Heart" Bottom, an executive secretary at NBC and whose connection to an agent provided her children with acting work. Joaquin is the third of five children, following River and Rain, and preceding Liberty and Summer, all of whom have been involved in acting. He also has a paternal half-sister, Jodean. His father was a Catholic from Fontana, California, and was of English, German and French ancestry. His maternal grandfather, Meyer Dunetz, was Russian Jewish and his maternal grandmother, Margit Lefkowitz, was Hungarian Jewish; they were both Ashkenazi Jews who resided in New York City. Phoenix's parents met when his mother was hitchhiking in California; they married less than a year after meeting.Soon after their second child was born, they joined the religious cult Children of God and travelled throughout the Caribbean and South America as missionaries, where the next two children were born. They eventually became disillusioned with the group and left in 1977, being opposed to the cult's increasingly questionable rules, particularly the practice of flirty fishing. The fifth child was born in Florida where the family settled; around this time they legally adopted the surname Phoenix, inspired by the mythical bird that rises from its own ashes, symbolizing a new beginning. When Joaquin was three, he and his older siblings witnessed fish being stunned as "they were throwing them against the side of the boat", prompting the whole family to convert to a vegan lifestyle.
Career
1980–1993: Early work and family tragedy
In 1979, when Phoenix's father had to stop working because of an old spinal injury, the family moved to Los Angeles where the mother met a high-profile child agent named Iris Burton, who got the children into commercials and bit parts on TV. Phoenix made his acting debut alongside his brother in the television series Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in the 1982 episode "Christmas Song". He has said of his first acting experience:In 1984, Phoenix starred opposite his brother River in the ABC Afterschool Special entitled Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia, for which they shared a nomination for Best Young Actor in a Family Film Made for Television at the 6th Youth in Film Awards. He also made guest appearances in the Murder, She Wrote episode "We're Off to Kill the Wizard", and individual episodes of The Fall Guy and Hill Street Blues. A year later, he appeared in the television film Kids Don't Tell. To supplement their income, the kids sang their original songs like "Gonna Make It", written by River, and busked for money in matching yellow shirts and shorts. They also studied dance; Phoenix became an avid breakdancer. He dropped out of high school when he was sent a dead frog in the mail to dissect for his biology studies. Dissatisfied with life in Los Angeles, the Phoenixes moved back to Florida, settling in Gainesville.
Phoenix made his feature film debut in the adventure film SpaceCamp as a young boy who goes to Kennedy Space Center to learn about the NASA space program and undergoes amateur astronaut training. He guest-starred in the anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "A Very Happy Ending" that year, playing a child who blackmails a hitman into killing his father. Phoenix's first starring role was in the film Russkies, about a group of friends who unknowingly befriend a Russian soldier during the Cold War.
In 1989, Phoenix co-starred as Garry, the withdrawn teenage nephew of Steve Martin's character in Ron Howard's comedy-drama Parenthood. It was a box office success, grossing worldwide against its budget. Critics praised the film, with IndieWire reviewers highlighting the film's cast and their performances for possessing "genuinely likable, and occasionally insightful, heart" calling Phoenix a "terrifically believable angsty adolescent", in a performance that garnered him a nomination for the Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film. The role of Garry was reprised in the series based on the film by Leonardo DiCaprio, who studied Phoenix's performance "to get it right". After establishing himself as a child actor, Phoenix felt he was not getting any appealing offers; he decided to take a break from acting and traveled to Mexico with his father, learning Spanish. When he returned to the States, his brother River suggested that Phoenix change his name back to Joaquin and encouraged him to start acting again.
On October 31, 1993, River died of a drug overdose outside The Viper Room in West Hollywood. Phoenix, who had accompanied his brother and older sister Rain to the club, called 911 to seek help for his dying brother. After the death, the phone call was repeatedly broadcast on TV and radio shows. The family retreated to Costa Rica to escape the media glare as the event came to be depicted as a cautionary tale of young Hollywood surrounded by mythology and conspiracy.
1994–1999: Return to acting
Phoenix returned to acting in Gus Van Sant's 1995 black comedy To Die For, based on the novel of the same name by Joyce Maynard, which in turn was inspired by the Pamela Smart murder case. Phoenix starred as Jimmy Emmett, a disturbed young man who is seduced by a woman to commit murder. The film premiered at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, with New York Times critic Janet Maslin praising Phoenix's performance, writing "So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for, Jimmy is both tempted and terrified by Suzanne's slick amorality. In that, he speaks for us all."In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts. The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office. The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer. The film was released to a dismal box office performance, but it was well received by critics. In his next film, 8mm, Phoenix co-starred as an adult video store employee who helps Tom Welles investigate the underworld of illegal pornography. The film turned out to be a box office success, grossing worldwide, but found few admirers among critics.
2000–2010: Critical acclaim and commercial success
In 2000, Phoenix co-starred in three films. In the first of these, he portrayed a fictionalized version of Roman Emperor Commodus in Ridley Scott's historical epic film Gladiator. The film received positive reviews and grossed worldwide, making it the second highest-grossing film of 2000. Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly called Phoenix's work "a more nuanced star-making performance" when comparing him to the lead Russell Crowe, writing "Phoenix turns what could have easily been a cartoonish villain into a richly layered study of pathology." Phoenix earned his first nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award in the Best Supporting Actor category. He and his late brother River became the first brothers to be nominated for acting Academy Awards. To this date, they are the only brothers to hold this distinction.His next film marked his first collaboration with director James Gray in The Yards. The crime film follows the corruption in the rail yards of Queens. Although failing to perform well at the box office, The Yards received positive reviews from critics with many considering Phoenix's performance as the villain a stand out. The third release of 2000 was Philip Kaufman's Quills, a satirical thriller inspired by the life and work of the Marquis de Sade. Phoenix portrayed the conflicted priest Abbé de Coulmier opposite Kate Winslet. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and was a modest art house success grossing a total of at the box office. It was received with critical praise with Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praising Phoenix and his chemistry with Winslet, stating "Phoenix, on a roll this year with Gladiator and The Yards, excels at making the priest a seductive figure—a neat trick considering the real Abbe was a four-foot hunchback. Winslet and Phoenix generate real fire, notably when Abbe dreams of ravishing Madeleine on the altar." For his combined roles of that year, Phoenix was awarded the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor and the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor.
The following year, Phoenix starred in the satirical film Buffalo Soldiers as a U.S. Army soldier. The world premiere was held at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival in early September. However, because the film was a satire of the US military, its wider theatrical run was delayed by approximately two years because of the September 11 attacks; it was finally released on July 25, 2003. BBC
The science fiction thriller Signs marked Phoenix's first collaboration with director M. Night Shyamalan. In the film, he played Merrill Hess, a former Minor League baseball player who, along with his older brother Graham, discovers that Earth has been invaded by extraterrestrials. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but Phoenix's performance was praised, with critic Peter Travers writing that Phoenix "registers impressively, finding the humor and the pain in this lost boy never making a false move as a helpless Merrill watches his rock of a brother crumble into a despairing crisis of faith." The film was a commercial success, grossing worldwide.
In 2003, Phoenix played the irresolute husband of a superstar-skater in Thomas Vinterberg's romance-drama It's All About Love, and voiced Kenai in the Disney animated film Brother Bear. Phoenix expressed immense joy being cast as the lead voice role in a Disney animated feature, stating "The real pinnacle is that I'm playing an animated character in a Disney film. Isn't that the greatest?" The film grossed worldwide, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. He was replaced by Patrick Dempsey in the sequel Brother Bear 2. Phoenix reunited with Shyamalan in the period thriller The Village. The film is about a village whose population lives in fear of creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it, referred to as "Those We Don't Speak Of". He played farmer Lucius Hunt, a role which Christopher Orr of The Atlantic found "underdeveloped". Though initially receiving mixed reviews, the film attracted retrospective reviews years after its release. Several critics deemed it one of Shyamalan's best films, praising Phoenix's "terrific" performance. The film was a financial success, grossing worldwide on its budget.
In his next film of the year, he starred opposite John Travolta in the drama film Ladder 49 as a Baltimore firefighter. In preparation for the role, Phoenix trained for two months with the Baltimore Fire Department, putting out actual fires. He admitted that he was afraid of heights before he started making this film, recalling "I got to the pole and I looked down and I couldn't do it. But you go through the training and it exposes your fears and helps you to overcome them. We ended up rappelling off a six-story tower and that really helped." The film earned at the box office despite receiving generally mixed reviews. Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, praising the performances in the film. Phoenix's final film of 2004 was Terry George's Hotel Rwanda, playing cameraman Jack Daglish. Based on the Rwandan genocide, the film documents Paul Rusesabagina's efforts to save the lives of his family and more than 1,000 other refugees by providing them with shelter in the besieged Hôtel des Mille Collines. The film was a moderate financial success but was a critical success, receiving almost exclusively positive reviews from critics. For his performance in the film, Phoenix was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award along with the cast.
File:Joaquin Phoenix 2005.jpg|thumb|upright|Phoenix attending the premiere of Walk the Line at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival
In 2005, Phoenix co-starred alongside Reese Witherspoon in the James Mangold directed film Walk the Line, a Johnny Cash biopic, after Cash himself approved of Phoenix. All of Cash's vocal tracks in the film and on the accompanying soundtrack are played and sung by Phoenix. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, eventually grossing worldwide. Phoenix's performance received rave reviews from critics and it inspired film critic Roger Ebert to write, "Knowing Johnny Cash's albums more or less by heart, I closed my eyes to focus on the soundtrack and decided that, yes, that was the voice of Johnny Cash I was listening to. The closing credits make it clear it's Joaquin Phoenix doing the singing, and I was gob-smacked". For his portrayal of Johnny Cash, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the film's soundtrack. Phoenix also received a second Academy Award nomination as well as a second BAFTA nomination, this time in the Best Lead Actor category. Earlier that year, he narrated Earthlings, a documentary about the investigation of animal abuse in factory farms, and pet mills, and for scientific research. He was awarded the Humanitarian Award at the San Diego Film Festival in 2005, for his work and contribution to Earthlings. Animal rights philosopher Tom Regan remarked that "for those who watch Earthlings, the world will never be the same".
Phoenix's first producing task was the action thriller We Own the Night, in which he played nightclub manager Bobby Green/Grusinsky who tries to save his brother and father from Russian mafia hitmen. The James Gray-directed film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews; Roger Ebert praised Gray's direction and the acting, but criticized its screenplay for lack of originality. David Edelstein of New York magazine commended Phoenix for elevating the film's conflict, writing that it "might be heavy-handed without Phoenix's face—his irresolution somehow more powerful than other actors' resolve. There is no artifice. He's not an actor disappearing into a role but a man disappearing into himself Phoenix homes in on the truth of this person. It's the paradox of the greatest acting".
Later that year, he played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident in his second feature with Terry George, the crime drama film Reservation Road. The film received mixed reviews from critics; Peter Travers praised Phoenix's acting stating "Even the best actors—and I'd rank Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo among their generation's finest—can't save a movie that aims for tragedy but stalls at soap opera." Phoenix also executive produced the television show 4Real, a half-hour program which began airing in 2007. The series showcased celebrity guests on global adventures "in order to connect with young leaders who are creating social and economic change".
In 2008, Phoenix starred as a suicidal bachelor torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor in Gray's Two Lovers. The romantic drama premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Reviews for the film and Phoenix's performance were positive; The New York Times Magazines chief critic called it his best performance to date and Ray Bennett of The Hollywood Reporter felt that Phoenix led the film with "great intelligence and enormous charm, making his character's conflict utterly believable". During the promotion of Two Lovers, Phoenix had started to film his next performance for the mockumentary film I'm Still Here, which the media felt overshadowed the former's theatrical release. I'm Still Here purports to follow the life of Phoenix, from the announcement of his retirement from acting, through his transition into a career as a hip hop artist managed by rap icon Sean "Diddy" Combs. Directed by Phoenix's then brother-in-law Casey Affleck and co-written by Affleck and Phoenix, the little-seen film premiered at the 67th Venice International Film Festival to mixed reviews; critics were divided on whether to interpret the film as documentary or performance art. After its release, Phoenix explained that the idea for the feature arose from his amazement that people believed reality television shows' claims of being unscripted. By claiming to retire from acting, he and Affleck planned to make a film that "explored celebrity, and explored the relationship between the media and the consumers and the celebrities themselves" through their film.